An especially severe thunderstorm ripped apart crops and damaged a power plant in Dawson and Gosper counties. The storm packed winds of 70 mph and golf ball size hail.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS GID wrote it up.
An especially severe thunderstorm ripped apart crops and damaged a power plant in Dawson and Gosper counties. The storm packed winds of 70 mph and golf ball size hail. The storms most destructive path stretched from southwest of Cozad to 5 miles east of Johnson Lake. Approximately 22,000 acres of corn and soybeans in Dawson County sustained a 90 percent loss. The local Extension Agent stated "In the heart of it, the crop was pounded to nothing." An estimated 140 different fields sustained some damage. At Camp Comeca south of Cozad, several cabins and buildings sustained window, siding and shingle damage. Numerous trees were topped. The Canaday Steam Plant was hit hard as nearly $200,000 in siding was ripped from the building. There were several reports of center pivot, grain bin, farmstead and vehicle damage along the storms path.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 17, 2:10 PM CST, 5 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 310 PM CDT WED AUG 17 2005 .DISCUSSION...MAIN PROBLEMS SURROUND THUNDERSTORM/SEVERE WEATHER CHANCES TONIGHT. FIRST ROUND OF CONVECTION HAS ALL BUT EXITED THE FORECAST AREA. THIS AREA WAS DRIVEN BY STRONG H85 THETA-E ADVECTION WHICH CONTINUES TO PERSIST IN THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE MAIN WEATHER MAKER FOR TONIGHT WILL BE AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CURRENTLY MOVING ACROSS THE DAKOTAS INTO WESTERN NEBRASKA. THE BULK OF THE UPPER LEVEL FORCING WITH THIS IS EXPECTED TO GRAZE THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. THE LEFT EXIT REGION OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET WILL ALSO BRING ENHANCED UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE TO NORTHERN PARTS OF NEBRASKA THIS EVENING. IN THE LOW LEVELS...A SURFACE TROUGH IS CURRENTLY LOCATED FROM CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA INTO THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE. A FEW CUMULUS CLOUDS HAVE STARTED TO DEVELOP IN ADVANCE OF THE TROUGH...HOWEVER THE 18Z LBF SOUNDING SHOWS THAT THERE IS STILL A CAP IN PLACE THAT WILL HAVE TO BE OVERCOME. HAVE DECIDED TO LEAVE IN THE HIGHEST POPS ACROSS THE NORTH CLOSER TO THE UPPER LEVEL FORCING...HOWEVER FURTHER SOUTH WILL TAPER OFF TO LOWER CHANCES. THE SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL IS STILL THERE WITH A GOOD INSTABILITY AXIS OF SBCAPES OF 1500-3000 J/KG AND DEEP LAYER SHEAR OF 35-40 KTS...BUT RELATIVELY WEAK 0-1 KM SHEAR COULD LIMIT THE TORNADO POTENTIAL. THE ENTIRE SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS RAPIDLY TONIGHT LEAVING A MAINLY DRY DAY ON THURSDAY. IT WILL BE HOT TOMORROW WITH H85 TEMPERATURES IN THE MIDDLE 20S CELSIUS...HOWEVER WOULD LIKE TO SEE STRONGER LOW LEVEL FLOW TO AIDE IN THE MIXING POTENTIAL. WILL KEEP THE SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY NIGHT WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF H85 WAA/THETA-E ADVECTION...BUT THE LOW LEVEL JET IS LATE TO ARRIVE AND NOT VERY STRONG WHICH WILL PROBABLY LIMIT THE CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS. .LONG TERM...12Z FRIDAY THROUGH NEXT WEDNESDAY. PRIMARY FORECAST CONCERN IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD WILL CENTER AROUND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES ON FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. AN AREA OF SFC LOW PRESSURE WILL DEEPEN ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS DURING THE DAY ON FRIDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL SLOWLY SLIDE SOUTHEAST THROUGH NEBRASKA AND INTO NORTHERN KANSAS BY FRIDAY NIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONTAL BOUNDARY WITH MORE OF A CAPPED ATMOSPHERE LIMITING CONVECTION OUT AHEAD OF THE FRONT. BEST UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT WILL AGAIN BE NORTH OF THE AREA IN ASSOCIATION WITH A 500 MB VORT MAX TRACKING ACROSS THE US/CANADIAN BOARDER. THE GFS AND NAM HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT FOR THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS INDICATING THIS OVERALL SET UP. THEREFORE BUMPED POPS UP TO AROUND 40 PERCENT ACROSS SOUTHERN AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF OUR CWA WHERE CONVECTION SEEMS MOST LIKELY. COLD FRONT SLIDES FAR ENOUGH SOUTH BY EARLY SATURDAY MORNING TO END ALL PRECIPITATION ACROSS OUR CWA. A RELATIVELY COOL AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO OUR REGION RESULTING IN COMFORTABLE WEEKEND TEMPERATURES WITH HIGHS AROUND 80 DEGREES. THE REGION SHOULD REMAIN DRY UNTIL SOMETIME LATE TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY WHEN THE NEXT SHORT WAVE TRACKS EASTWARD ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS. GFS AND ECMWF BOTH PICK UP ON THE DIGGING TROUGH BUT THERE ARE STILL THE QUESTIONS OF TIMING AND TROUGH DEPTH. FOR NOW..HAVE INTRODUCED SLIGHT POPS IN THE TUESDAY NIGHT TIME FRAME AND WILL HAVE TO MONITOR THIS SYSTEM FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...NONE. KS...NONE. && KING/WESELY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 1140 AM CDT WED AUG 17 2005 KSZ005-006-017-018-NEZ039-040-046-047-060>062-072>075-082>085- 181200- PHILLIPS-SMITH-ROOKS-OSBORNE-VALLEY-GREELEY-SHERMAN-HOWARD-DAWSON- BUFFALO-HALL-GOSPER-PHELPS-KEARNEY-ADAMS-FURNAS-HARLAN-FRANKLIN- WEBSTER- 1140 AM CDT WED AUG 17 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING ACROSS THE AREA. THE MAIN THREATS ARE EXPECTED TO BE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS AND WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...MAINLY BEFORE 10 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. IT APPEARS THAT SOME OF THE STORMS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAY BECOME SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS (ALL LOWERCASE) KSZ007-019-NEZ041-048-049-063-064-076-077-086-087-181200- JEWELL-MITCHELL-NANCE-MERRICK-POLK-HAMILTON-YORK-CLAY-FILLMORE- NUCKOLLS-THAYER- 1140 AM CDT WED AUG 17 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ANY LINGERING THUNDERSTORMS WILL END EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...HOWEVER MORE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT COULD BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS AND WINDS GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. IT APPEARS THAT SOME OF THE STORMS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAY BECOME SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/HASTINGS (ALL LOWERCASE) KING
The North Platte radar (KLNX), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:37 UTC.
6 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
70 mph winds accompanied the golf ball sized hail.
Half dollar size hail fell along with the 70 mph winds.
The strong winds in the Holdrege area resulted in several downed tree limbs along 8th, 10th and 11th Avenues.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, August 2005
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5471929, 5471930, 5471931, 5471932, 5471933, 5471934, 5471935.